CAPTAIN DASH

Real Name: Unrevealed; Dash may be part or all of his actual name

Identity/Class: Extratemporal/alternate reality (31st century Earth-1241) human (see comments)

Occupation: Commander of NYC's airfleets

Group Membership: His fleet (Flights 2 and 7, others)

Affiliations: American infantry, scientists ("Bald", "Blond", Soul Patch", "White goatee");
   presumably US senators

Enemies: Marmon, Marmon's forces

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York City

First Appearance: Comedy Comics I#9/4 (April, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: Captain Dash is a skilled pilot and excellent hand-to-hand fighter. He was immune to Marmon's fear spray; though naturally a brave and largely fearless individual, this was presumably down to some genetic anomaly, as the immunity could be passed to others (see comments).

   He carries some sort of small firearm, but its capabilities are unrevealed as he never used it within the story, seemingly preferring to punching people. He wore a gas mask when his rocket ship was attacked with fear gas, but this appears to be shipboard equipment rather than something he normally carries.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed (see comments)

History:
(Comedy Comics I#9/4 (fb) - BTS) - In the 31st century science had raised the life span of the average human to 165 years and people could transit between London and New York City by rocket in half an hour. Protecting this skyward-rising metropolis was the patriotic Captain Dash, who commanded a fleet of rocket ships.

(Comedy Comics I#9/4) - One day around 3a.m. Captain Dash was working in the local airport's chart room when a subordinate entered to inform him that a fleet of strange black rocket ships had been sighted approaching the city. Suspecting trouble, Dash ordered Flights 2 and 7 to scramble to intercept. Approaching the intruders (the forces of Marmon, ruler of the Pacific Isles), Dash ordered his fleet to open fire, but the enemy responded not with shells but with a strange greenish gas. Dash issued orders for his men to don their gas masks, but watched as his own vehicle's pilot began sneezing uncontrollably, and realized the gas was cutting straight through the masks. In a blind panic the pilot ripped his mask off and abandoned his post, running screaming towards the exit hatch. Surprised to see a man who had been awarded a medal for bravery succumbing to fear, Dash knocked the man out and took over the controls, ditching his own mask since he deemed it ineffective anyway. However, though Dash remained calm and composed, the rest of his crew now seemed to catch the pilot's terror and abandoned ship, ignoring Dash's protests. Realizing that the gas had to be the cause, and that he seemed somehow immune, Dash watched as the crew of his entire fleet followed suit, leaving Dash in command of the only remaining American rocket ship. Though the odds were greatly against him, Dash determined to bring down at least one of the invaders before he was through, but without anyone to man his ship's heavy guns, he was swiftly caught in an enemy crossfire and was forced to parachute out after his ship's tail was shot off. Marmon's forces then unleashed their gas on an infantry unit on the ground, then departed to give the contagion time to spread.

   For the next week Dash watched as seemingly his entire nation, from senators to housewives to soldiers, fell prey to the plague of fear and began openly calling to surrender to Marmon, desperate for peace even at the price of being enslaved. However, a small group of scientists had remained uninfected in their germ-free lab, and suspecting a cure lay within the immune Dash's blood they sent for him. After taking a blood sample they developed a vaccine (see comments) which was then used to inoculate Dash's fleet (and presumably, eventually, the rest of the populace). At the end of the week Marmon's fleet returned. Expecting to meet no real resistance, they were instead confronted by Dash's squadron of rocket ships. Dash had his own ship approach the enemy flagship, then lead his men in leaping between vessels in mid-air to board it, figuring that capturing Marmon would end the battle. While his men took out Marmon's crew, Dash personally pounded the enemy despot into submission. With his capture, the remaining invaders routed, and decried his downed foe as a dope for not realizing fear was curable.

Comments: Created by Ben Thompson.

   Dash appeared in Comedy Comics I#9, seemingly replacing the not-dissimilar Captain Daring, another 31st century (3050 A.D.) hero. Given that we never see Dash without his cowl it's feasible that he and Daring could be one and the same (Dash Daring?), but probably not likely. Captain Daring's adventure ended on a cliffhanger that was never resolved (he'd become the hypnotized slave of 20th century Nazi leaders who'd been revived in Daring's future era). While Dash's adventure has a proper conclusion, it does end with the promise that "Captain Dash will be back in the next issue." He wasn't.

   Dash displays no obvious superpowers, unless you count his immunity to the fear contagion, but he does seem to be an incredibly fit specimen, literally leaping from his own rocket ship to Marmon's in mid-air during a dog fight without any obvious gear to aid him if he misses his target. Given these factors and his patriotic costume, I have to wonder if he's the latest iteration in America's long line of Super Soldiers.

   It might be worth pointing out that the story only talks of America and Americans, and at no point mentions the United States. While this was probably just the writer considering America and U.S.A. as synonyms, it's feasible that in this timeline by the 31st century most or all of one or both American continents have become a single nation state.

   The whole process by which the scientists develop their vaccine for the fear contagion is (unintentionally) hilarious. They seem to simply take a sample of Dash's blood, inject it as is into a horse in order to develop "anti-fear germs," then drain said horse's blood in turn and inject it, apparently without any modifications, straight into a human test subject. It was so bizarre that I had to check with Snood, a vet by profession, if there might be any aspect of this that is medically viable. Surprisingly there is, albeit probably not as depicted:  
    I am certain that animals have been used in not un-similar fashion to develop vaccines, provide antibodies, etc. More common in mice. They can do all kinds of things with mRNA and rendering the virus non-functional but still retaining a portion of its protein that stimulates an immune-reaction. The anti-fear germs would be either antibodies or a vaccine to stimulate the formation of such antibodies.
  Fellow Appendix writer Norvo added:
   It does make sense to pick a horse as the catalyst for these antigerms (antibodies by any other name). Horses have a lot more blood. More blood is more vaccine. Ruthlessly efficient, really.
  In terms of a single horse apparently providing enough to vaccinate the entire American population, Snood commented:
   perhaps they only needed a picomole or a femtoliter or some crazy small volume. Maybe they could take a drop of the horse blood into 10 gallons of saline, and then give some small volume to each recipient.

    This profile was completed 07/29/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Dash has no known connections to:

Marmon

  

Marmon was the ruler of the Pacific Isles in the 31st century, and had ambitions of extending his rule to the Western hemisphere, beginning with America. He (or more likely his scientists) developed the "scourge of fear," a contagion initially transmitted via gas intended to then spread rapidly through the American population, rendering them too scared to resist Marmon's conquering armies. Marmon led a rocket ship strike on New York City to unleash the gas, taking out Captain Dash's fleet before exposing an American Infantry division to the disease. Confident that a week would be all the germ needed to soften up his target, Marmon then returned his fleet home to prepare for the full invasion.

 

   A week later Marmon returned expecting to find all resistance eliminated, but instead they were confronted by Captain Dash's reassembled fleet. As aerial battle raged, Dash lead a boarding party onto Marmon's flagship and personally clobbered the dictator. With his capture, Marmon's remaining forces turned tail and fled, harried by Dash's fleet. With the American victory, Dash held the captured despot like a rag doll, and pronounced his fallen foe a fool for not realizing fear was curable.

 

Comments: Being the 1940s and with the USA at war with Japan, it's hardly surprising to see that Marmon and his men are depicted in a very negatively stereotypical way, complete with outright yellow skin. Actually, considering how the Japanese were often portrayed at the time, Marmon and company get off comparatively lightly, though that still doesn't make the depiction any more acceptable for a modern audience.

 

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

  

Marmon's forces 

  

Marmon's forces were presumably natives of the unspecified Pacific islands he ruled. They wore green leotards with a yin-yang symbol and skull caps with a slight point on the tip, while their black rocket ships had windows placed in such a way as to make their fronts resemble grinning faces. Emboldened during their first encounter with American forces when Captain Dash's men abandoned their airships after being exposed to fear gas, the Pacificers' black ships ganged up on Dash's ship to shoot it out the sky, then proceeded to strafe and gas an American Infantry division, before withdrawing on Marmon's instructions to give their contagion time to spread.

 

   A week later they returned expecting to face no resistance, but were instead met by Dash's inoculated forces. Dash led his men in boarding Marmon's flagship, and while Dash targeted the dictator personally Dash's men took down the soldiers accompanying him, with one Pacific soldier bitterly complaining as he was struck down, asking rhetorically who had told them that Americans couldn't fight.

 

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

  

Captain Dash's fleet

 

Captain Dash's fleet, which consisted of at least "Flights 2 and 7" (and presumably 1 and 3 through 6 as well) operated out of and defended NYC. When Marmon's fleet of black rocket ships was sighted approaching the city at 3a.m. Dash was alerted and mobilized the two aforementioned flights to intercept. They engaged the enemy and momentarily seemed to have the upper hand until Marmon's ships unleashed their fear gas. Dash's forces swiftly donned gas masks to protect themselves, but the spray simply cut through them, infecting the airmen in spite of their precautions. The pilot of Dash's ship, a man who held the congressional medal for courage, was the first to succumb, abandoning his post in terror and racing to bail out the ship. Dash knocked the man out and took over the controls, but though he proved immune to the contagion, the rest of his crew were not, and swiftly abandoned ship, parachuting to the ground, an action repeated across the entire American fleet, routed as the demoralized crews all forsook the battle.

 

   However, after being vaccinated the fleet returned to fighting form and when Marmon's forces returned a week later expecting to find little to no resistance they were instead met by a force itching for a rematch. Dash led a team of men who leapt from Dash's ship to board Marmon's flagship in mid-air. With the enemy leader's crew easily overpowered and the flagship captured, Marmon's remaining fleet went into full retreat, with Dash's forces harrying them out of American airspace.

 

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

  

American Infantry

After taking out Captain Dash's fleet using their germ of fear Marmon's forces strafed an American Infantry division with the gas that carried their contagion. Its effect was almost instantaneous, with sneezes heralding the infection taking hold and panic swiftly spreading through the ranks.

  

   Despite only this one division and Dash's men being shown to be directly exposed, the fear pandemic spread across America swiftly. As terror beset the populace, a soldier was among those who called for any kind of peace with Marmon, even the peace of slavery.

  

   A terrified soldier was subsequently used as a guinea pig by the uninfected scientists who had devised a cure using Captain Dash's blood. The trembling man was literally dragged to his inoculation by two of the scientists, screaming in terror at the sight of the needle with which he was about to be injected, and the slight pin prick of the syringe prompted the soldier to wail like a baby, complaining the scientist had hurt him. However, in moments the soldier was transformed from a quaking wreck into a pugnacious bruiser aching for a chance to take on Marmon's forces in a fight, proving the efficacy of the scientists' cure.

 

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

Scientists

Four scientists - "Blond," "Soul Patch," "White Goatee" and "Bald" - escaped the fear contagion because they were working in a germ-free laboratory. They worked day and night trying to figure out a way to stop the disease, but after several unsuccessful days they paused to hold a brainstorming confidence. Goatee suggested they could try to produce a serum, but Blond pointed out to do so they would need the blood of someone immune to the scourge, and asked the others if they knew of any such individual. Bald confirmed that Captain Dash was, and sent for the hero at once.

  

   After Captain Dash arrived at the lab Soul Patch took a blood sample while Blond informed the hero that if the procedure worked he would be the savior of the country. Dash asked the men what they would do with his blood and Soul Patch informed him the next step was to inject it into a horse and develop anti-fear germs. Later, Bald oversaw draining their equine incubator's blood, declaring there was enough in the animal to cure an army. To test the serum, Soul Patch and Bald dragged in a terrified and unwilling fear-stricken soldier for Goatee to inject. Though the man wailed like a baby over the slight pain of the inoculation, he almost immediately switched from terrified to bellicose. Overjoyed at the result, Soul Patch performed a cartwheel, prompting Goatee to berate him for acting in a manner unbecoming a professor. Bald noted that they could now cure the country overnight.

  

Comments: In case it's not clear, none of the scientist were named; Blond, Soul Patch, White Goatee and Bald are purely appearance-derived nicknames to make discussing their actions easier.

   I've already discussed the insane way they developed the serum in the main comments above, but I feel I should add here that I love Bald's optimism about how long it should take to inoculate an entire country from a pandemic.

  

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

American Senator

As the germ of fear's contagion raced across the American nation, one senator called on his fellows to sign a surrender pact with Marmon and become a vassal state of the dictator's Pacific isles.

 

Comments: Just to avoid confusion, the Senator was not actually green skinned, either normally or as some bizarre side effect of the contagion. All the infected in the panel in question were green skinned, a way of visibly presenting the terror overwhelming each of them.

 

--Comedy Comics I#9/4

images: (without ads)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p1, pan1 (main image)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p2, pan5 (wearing his gas mask)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p5, pan4 (draining the horse)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p4, pan4 (Marmon, headshot)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p2, pan2 (Marmon, bodyshot)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p2, pan2 (Marmon's soldiers)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p3, pan7 (Marmon's black rocket ship)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p2, pan3 (Captain Dash's fleet's rocket ships)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p6, pan5 (Captain Dash's airmen)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p4, pan2 (American Infantry)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p5, pan1 (scientists - Soul Patch, White Goatee, Blond)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p5, pan2 (scientists - Bald)
Comedy Comics I#9/4, p4, pan5 (senator)

Appearances:
Comedy Comics I#9/4 (April 1942) - Unknown writer, Ben Thompson (art), Stan Lee (editor)

First Posted: 09/01/2021
Last updated: 08/28/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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